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FREEDOMWORKS AMPING UP OBAMACARE DEFUNDING PUSH — FreedomWorks plans to ramp up its campaign for lawmakers to oppose spending bills that contain funding for Obamacare. The group is drawing attention to the letter spearheaded by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) that vows to vote against bills that fund the law. The POLITICO story: http://politi.co/1eN5a71

CHICKITY CHINA, THE CHINESE CHICKEN — Chicken processed in China could be making its way to your table soon, depending on how a meeting between Chinese and U.S. officials goes next week. The two countries have been negotiating over a trade agreement for years amid China’s food safety scandals and another recent bird flu outbreak there. The POLITICO story: http://politi.co/17t5sNC

Welcome to a beautiful, pre-fallish sort of Friday! In case you’re planning on eating fish today, Alaska Sen. Mark Begich can hook you up. He mailed a halibut to Domino’s CEO Patrick Doyle yesterday to express his indignation over this commercial, which shows a man spitting out pieces of the white fish in favor of a slice of pizza.

“Why are you hatin’ on our halibut?” Begich wrote in a letter to Doyle. If the two reconcile, PULSE really hopes a halibut-topped Domino’s pizza doesn’t result.

“Don’t stop till you PULSE enough.”

ANTI-HEALTH INSURANCE TAX CAMPAIGN RAMPS UP — The new deep-pocketed coalition fighting $100 billion Obamacare’s tax on health insurers has grown by one in the past two weeks and is running online ads in states around the country. The National Retail Federation has joined AHIP, NAHU, NAM and the Chamber of Commerce in what they’re calling the Affordable Coverage Project.

— Organizers say they’ll start by running ads in at least 15 states that are most affected by the tax or are home to influential lawmakers in a position to do something about it. They called it a “significant buy” but declined to say how much it’s spending on the campaign. The campaign is set to hit D.C. once lawmakers are back in town. An example of the ads: http://politico.pro/1dbvtWr. The group’s website: http://bit.ly/16frjck

ISSA DEMANDS TREASURY EMAILS — Remember that Oversight hearing last month that Chairman Issa spiced up at the very end by threatening to subpoena Treasury? He wrote to the agency again today, demanding that it turn over 50 emails related to its decision to award insurance subsidies through the federally-run exchanges. Treasury has turned over documents already, but Issa says they don’t sufficiently justify the decision.

— Issa slipped in another subpoena threat in the letter he sent Thursday, writing that the committee “will be forced to consider use of compulsory process” if Treasury doesn’t comply by August 29. The letter: http://1.usa.gov/142Dbir

HOSPITALS OPPOSE GRACE PERIOD RULE — Hospitals are urging CMS to revise a final rule allowing insurers to stop covering services after the first month of the three-month grace period for those who don’t pay their premiums. They say they’d be unfairly burdened with trying to collect payments during the last two months of the grace period. The letter, signed by the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Federation of Americans Hospitals and the American Hospital Association: http://politico.pro/1dbJ1kZ

CAPITO REFUSES FEDERAL HEALTH CONTRIBUTIONS — Rep. Shelley Moore Capito says she won’t accept any insurance contributions from the federal government next year. The West Virginia Republican, who’s running for Sen. Rockefeller’s seat, also has a bill in the works banning such contributions to lawmakers’ health plans, but allowing them for plans purchased by staffers.

“Regular Americans, non-members of Congress, who are forced to go to the exchanges because their employers have dropped their insurance are not eligible for subsidies,” Capito said on “Fox and Friends” Thursday morning. “Members of Congress should not be eligible for a subsidy.”

— PULSE would like to remind our readers that many Americans who buy coverage on the exchanges — it’s been estimated about half — will, in fact, be eligible for subsidies. The Pro story: http://politico.pro/16f6aio

AFP LAUNCHES OBAMACARE RADIO ADS — A mother named “Julie” and her seizure-stricken son are the subjects of Americans for Prosperity’s latest anti-Obamacare ads. Yesterday, the group announced a six-figure radio buy in six states. “Can I really trust the folks in Washington with my family’s health care? I think we all deserve some answers,” Julie says in the one-minute ad, which directs listeners to visit the AFP-run website ObamacareRiskFactors.com. The ad: http://bit.ly/19vxKNe

WEBER SHANDWICK has won a contract to promote enrollment in the D.C. insurance exchange, PRWeek reports: http://bit.ly/15KdLlF

McDERMOTT WANTS GAO REPORT ON HOSPITAL CONSOLIDATION — Hospitals are merging faster than ever and Rep. Jim McDermott, top Democrat on the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, wants the Government Accountability Office to take a look at how it could affect health care prices for consumers. His letter: http://1.usa.gov/1daPb4L

WE THINK WE’RE INVINCIBLE — Americans over age 40 vastly underestimate the care they’ll need as they age, says a new report produced for the SCAN Foundation. Two-thirds said they’ve done little to no planning or saving for long-term care expenses. Planning was higher among wealthier individuals, yet still only about half of six-figure earners said they’ve set money aside to help cover those needs. The report: http://bit.ly/1cQyrkN

HHS SENDS BASIC HEALTH REGS TO OMB — The White House budget office is now reviewing a proposed rule establishing the ACA’s Basic Health Program, which earlier this year was delayed until 2015. Basic Health, an alternative and voluntary coverage scheme for people earning between 138 percent and 200 percent of the federal poverty level, has drawn interest from a handful of states. A timeline released by HHS in April said proposed regs would be ready in September.

HARKIN APPLAUDS NAVIGATOR FUNDING FOR IOWA GROUPS — Sen. Tom Harkin applauded the nearly $600,000 in navigator funding going to three organizations in his state: Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, Genesis Health System and Visiting Nurse Services. The three groups are among 105 that were awarded $67 million on Thursday to train navigators, who will in turn help people enroll in the exchanges.

— “I am pleased to see that these Iowa organizations will receive the necessary resources to train health insurance navigators — who will in turn help the roughly 150,000 Iowans projected to enroll in quality, affordable coverage through our state’s health insurance marketplace,” the Iowa Democrat said in a statement.

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OBESITY GROWING MORE SLOWLY, MAYBE — There’s some evidence that obesity is increasing more slowly than in the past, says a report from the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. But that’s where the good news ends. Thirteen states have obesity rates above 30 percent, 41 states have rates of at least 25 percent and every state is above 20 percent. The report: http://bit.ly/16SRBSE

TEN CALIFORNIA HOSPITALS FINED FOR PATIENT CARE VIOLATIONS — Ten California hospitals are being penalized by the state’s public health department for noncompliant practices judged likely to cause serious injury or death to patients. They’re being fined a total of $675,000. The list of hospitals: http://bit.ly/1eM9UtB

— ONE OF THEM TREATED BRAIN CANCER WITH BOWEL BACTERIA — This experimental surgery is too, er, interesting to ignore. Doctors at the University of California Davis Medical Center in Sacramento infected three patients suffering from brain tumors with bacteria from their bowels. The physicians hoped to trigger the body’s natural defenses to fight the tumors, but instead the patients died. The Central Valley Business Times story: http://bit.ly/1bzGpvq

POLITICO PRO ANNOUNCES NEW VERTICAL HIRES — Pro is pleased to announce a slew of new reporters and editors for our education, trade and agriculture teams. Among them: Doug Palmer of Reuters, who will cover trade, and Jason Huffman of Food Chemical News, who will serve as agriculture and trade editor.

WHAT WE’RE READING, By Joanne Kenen

The Central Oregon Bend Bulletin has a deep dive into how a local medical group banned pharmaceutical reps — and how it changed their practice: http://bit.ly/17tRIlG

Penn State employees are protesting a wellness program that penalizes them if they don’t provide personal health information, the Wall Street Journal reports http://on.wsj.com/1eNO1Km

As people live longer, ties to grown-up grandchildren reduce depression, the NYT New Old Age blog reports: http://nyti.ms/16OhIs7

American University joins other area schools moving toward smoke-free outdoor campus, the Washington Post reports: http://wapo.st/14OFhVG

The Boston Globe looks at research on changes in brain chemistry and obesity, and how a molecule called oleoylethanolamine may help: http://bo.st/14P8Gwb

USA Today reports on a study that finds obesity may be linked to 18 percent of deaths of people age 40 and up — but notes questions about methodology http://usat.ly/14CiEgj

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